Leader of movement for Okinawa’s reversion to Japan passes away

Leader of movement for Okinawa's reversion to Japan passes away

Satoru Nakasone, former leader of the movement for Okinawa's reversion to Japan


July 28, 2015 Ryukyu Shimpo

At 7:25 p.m. on July 25, Satoru Nakasone, who led the movement for Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, passed away at his home in Okinawa City at the age of 88 due to visceral malfunction.

Nakasone was from former Misato village (now Okinawa City). A memorial service was held on July 28 at the Okinawa Funeral Hall in Okinawa City. The principal was his wife Sayoko.

Nakasone played an active role in the movement as the secretary-general of the Okinawan Prefecture Reversion Council or Fukkikyo between 1966 and 1975.

He campaigned across the country for Okinawa’s reversion to Japan, launching the ‘’4.28 maritime rally’’, which became a symbol of the movement, off the coast of Cape Hedo, Kunigami Village.

He was a vice chairman of the Okinawa Prefectural Youth Council and a board member of the Okinawa Youth Federation (Okiseiren).

After Okinawa’s reversion to Japan in 1972, he served as general secretary of the Okinawa prefectural headquarters of the Japan Socialist Party.

In Cape Hedo, Kunigami, a monument to the Okinawan people’s struggle to return to their motherland is inscribed with calligraphy by Nakasone.

The Okiseiren, led by Nakasone, carried out an opinion survey on the future of Okinawa in 1951.

The results of the poll showed that 84 percent of respondents wanted Okinawa to be returned to Japan. This later led to Okinawa’s reversion movement to Japan.

After its establishment in 1960, the Fukkikyo organized a rally in Tokyo in 1964 to highlight the Okinawa problem. Members of the organization filed a lawsuit at Tokyo District Court in 1965, seeking to apply the Constitution of Japan to Okinawa.

(English translation by T&CT)

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